Ropeway-car



July 30, 1968 w. A. MULLER 3,394,661

ROPEWAY-CAR Filed Oct. 25, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet l JWVENTPRI HERA EA A Mull July 30, 1968 w. A. MULLER 3,394,661

ROPEWAY-CAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1966 Jsra a x I I6 Iwe/v TM Mama: A. Mu/IER July 30, 1968 Filed Oct. 25, 1966 W.. A. MULLER ROPEWAY-CAR 3 Sheets-Sheet :5

United States Patent 3,394,661 ROPEWAY-CAR Werner A. Miiller, Bern, Switzerland, assignor to Von Roll A.G. Werk Bern, Bern, Switzerland, a company limited by shares of Switzerland Filed Oct. 25, 1966, Ser'. No. 589,448 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Oct. 29, 1965, 14,941/65 Claims. (Cl. 104-202) The present invention broadly relates to an aerial ropeway or cable car and, more specifically, to a monocable ropeway-car or to a bi-cable ropeway-car including a carriage or carrier and means for clamping such carriage or carrier to the traction cable.

In aerial cableways or ropeways, especially ropeways for hauling passengers, wherein the several cabins or cars are clamped to the continually circulating traction cable in either one of two stations it is a safety requirement that the quality of the clamping connection of each car with the traction cable be perfect and that the quality of this clamping connection may be checked.

It has been proposed, for example in Swiss Patent 263,- 466, that a pair of clamping jaws be placed into engagement with the traction cable by being subjected to the action of a spring. For checking the clamping connection a device has been suggested which however, has the drawback that it only checks the pressure exerted by the spring or springs upon the clamping devices, but does not check the quality of the actual clamping connection between the clamping devices and the traction cable. If the force exerted by the spring upon the clamping jaws has a given value, the quality of this clamping connection may be seriously impaired if one of the elements to be coupled is soiled by oil, grease or the like. It has already been proposed to check the quality of the clamping or coupling connection by providing a level-arm which is held by a spring in a position in which its end protrudes into the trajectory of the ropeway-car, with the effect of holding back such car if the coupling connection is not strong enough to overcome the retaining action of the arm, or rather, of the spring acting on such arm. Such checking device has the drawback that the strong retaining action of the arm is transmitted onto the traction cable during each checking operation.

One object of the present invention consists in the provision of a ropeway-car equipped with a device for checking the quality of the clamping connection of the clamping devices with a traction cable, but devoid of the drawbacks of the known constructions.

Another significant object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved checking device for an aerial cable car which enables undertaking reliable determination of the degree of effectiveness of the clamping connection of the clamping devices with a traction cable and without adversely affecting the overall operation of the cable car.

Still a further important object of this invention concerns itself with a checking device for use with an aerial cable car for the purpose of determining the quality of the clamping connection of clamping devices with the traction cable, which device is relatively simple in construction, completely reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and install and requires a minimum of servicing, and where the checking operation itself can be performed easily.

The invention will be better understood, and objects other than those set forth above, will become apparent, when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elev-ational view of a bicable ropeway-car;

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FIG. 2 is a side view of the car taken from the left side of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1.

Describing now the exemplary embodiment of inventive apparatus, it will be seen that in FIGS. 1 and 2 the reference numeral 1 designates the passenger cabin or car of a bicable ropeway-car which also includes a so-called hanger or carriage 2. The ropeway includes a traction or hauling cable 4 and a non-illustrated suspension cable which, in the usual manner, in the stations is replaced by a suspension rail 3. The hanger or carriage 2 includes a vertically extending carriage body 5 having a hollow substantially rectangular cross-section. The lower end of this carriage body 5 is provided with a pivot 6 to which is suspended a suspension rod 7 having at its lower end an arm 8 rigidly connected thereto. Arm 8 is provided at its free end with a pivot 9 to which the cabin 1 is suspended. A bar 10 is secured to the upper end of the body 5. Bearing supports 11 are secured to both ends of this bar 10. To each of these bearing supports 11 there is articulated a whip 12 which carries at its ends rollers 13 which move over the supporting cable and in the stations, as shown, over the supporting rail 3. The traction-cable 4 extends substantially parallel to this rail 3 at a determined distance below it and is continually moved by means not shown including an electric drive motor.

For coupling the hanger or carriage 2 with the traction cable 4 two clamping devices 14 are provided, one at either side of the carriage body 5, as may be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3. Two guide tubes 15, 16 extend substantially parallel to the supporting bar 10 through the carriage body 5 to which they are secured by means still to be described. Clamping devices 14 are guided for sliding movement on the freely extending portions of these guide tubes. More particularly, it can be seen from FIG. 3 that each clamping device 14 includes a-clamp body 17 extending substantially parallel to the carriage body 5 and also possessing a substantially rectangular hollow cross section. Bearing sleeves 15a, 16a extend through the side walls of each body 17 and are secured thereto. A fixed clamping jaw 18 having a seat 18a for the traction cable 4 is secured to one of the longitudinal walls of each body 17. It carries a pivot 19 (FIG. 2) for an upper clamping jaw 20 which has a seat 20a facing the seat 180:. The upper clamp 20 is extended beyond the pivot 19 by means of an arm 21, on the free end 21 of which there is mounted a roller 22 for free rotation. A compression spring 23 which may be composed of a plurality of conical rings or a set of spring discs is arranged within the body 17 and exerts a pressure on the arm 21 of the upper clamping jaw 20 for the purpose of pressing the seat 20a against the traction cable 4 which bears against the seat 18a of the lower fixed clamping jaw 18. It is thus the spring means 23 which generates the clamping action.

FIG. 3 illustrates the details of the construction of the clamping devices 14. The guide tubes 15, 16 extending through the side walls of the carriage body 5 are secured against longitudinal movement with respect to this body 5 by inner fixing collars 30, such as 16b. Outer collars 15c and are secured to outer ends of the guide tubes 15 and 16 respectively. The tube portions extending between a respective inner collar 15b, 16b and an outer collar 15c, 16c provide on both sides of the carriage body 5 cylindrical guide surfaces 24 on which the clamp body 17 of the clamping devices 14 may slide with their bearing sleeves 15a, 16a, each of which is fitted at its two ends with hearing bushings 25 as shown in the right half of FIG. 3. That wall of each clamp body 17 which is located near the cable 4, is reinforced with a plate 26 welded thereto. Each lower clamp jaw 18 is secured to the corresponding body 17 by v.9 means of screws 27 engaging with appropriate screwholes in the plate 26 and the underlying wall of the body 17. A roller 28 is mounted to be freely rotatable about a vertical axis on the free end of each lower clamping jaw 13 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The purpose of such rollers 28 will be mentioned later on. Each lower clamping jaw 18 includes two legs 18b having co-axial bores 18c through which extends a pivot bolt 29. A protruding portion of the corresponding upper jaw 20 is pivotably mounted on this pivot bolt 29 which constitutes the structural part identical with the already mentioned pivot 19.

In each clamping device 14 are arm 21 constituting the extension of the upper clamping jaw 20 extends between the tubes 15, 16 and protrudes from the profile of the carriage 2 in the range of carriage body 5. The free end portion of the arm 21 supports so as to be freely rotatable a roller 22. The compression spring 23 which may be a hellcoidal spring means or a set of spring discs replacing such a helicoidal spring 23 surrounds two cylindrical members 31, 32 telescoping within each other. The lower one of these members 32 slides in the upper one 31 and is provided with an annular shoulder 33 forming a seat for the lower end of the spring 23. The upper end of this spring 23 bears against the lower face of the arm 21. The lower wall of the clamping body 17 has a screw hole engaged by a screw 34 which extends coaxially to the telescoping members 31, 32 and is adjustable with respect thereto. Screw 34 supports a part providing the shoulder 33. It is thus possible to adjust the compressive effort exerted by the spring 23 on the arm 21 and, consequently, the clamping force exerted by the clamping jaw 20 onto the cable 4, by threadably adjusting the screw 34.

For disengaging the upper clamping jaws 20, there is provided at each station a rail not shown which is so arranged that it acts upon the rollers 22 of a passing carriage 2 to depress them against the resistance of the springs 23, whereby the clamping jaws 20 are brought out of engagement with the traction cable 4.

Midway between the two bodies 17 (see FIG. 3) the carriage body 5 is provided with two coaxial bearings 35 and 36 provided with bearing bushings 37 and 38, respectively. A substantially cylindrical bearing sleeve 39 is supported in these bearings and has at its end near the cable 4 a flange 40 and at its other end a threaded portion 41 onto which there is screwed a nut 42. The bearing sleeve 39 is prevented from axial movement by the flange 40 and the nut 42.

A rod means 43 is guided for axial movement in the longitudinal bore of the bearing sleeve 39. At its end located away from the cable 4 this rod 43 has a bifurcated or forked end portion 44 which protrudes from the profile of the carriage 2 and supports between its legs a roller 45 for free rotation. The middle portion of the forked end 44 provides a shoulder 46. A plurality of annular conical springs 48 are arranged around the portion of rod 43 extending between this shoulder 46 and the oppositely facing surface 47 of the bearing sleeve 39. Spring 48 opposes movement of the rod 43 toward cable 4. At its end located near this cable 4 the rod 43 has secured to it a substantially trapezoidal cam-plate 49 which bears against the flange 40 of the bearing sleeve 39. This cam-plate 49 has two oblong slots or holes 40 inclined towards each other in a direction away from bearing sleeve 39. These holes 50 are disposed substantially symmetrical with regard to the longitudinal axis of the rod 43. Plungers 51 are arranged on either side of the cam-plate 49 and each possess a tubular head surrounding an end portion of the pivot bolt 29 of the corresponding clamping device 14. Such head is secured to this end portion by means of a transversal pin 29a. The head is made integral with a distance holding element 52 intended to bear upon the cable 4 when a force pushes the rod 43 towards the cable 4 against the resistance of the springs 48. Each plunger 51 has a forked or bifurcated portion 53 through the legs of which extends a pin 54. This pin 54 extends practically without lateral play through the corresponding oblong hole 50 of the cam-plate 49. The rod 43 is thus drivingly connected with the plungers 51 and the corresponding clamping devices 14 in such a manner that each time when the rod 43 is pushed towards the cable 4 the two clamping devices 14 are moved away from each other. The operation for checking the quality of the clamping connection of the two clamping devices 14 with the traction cable 4 in a station of the ropeway is as follows:

Once the carriage 2 has been clampingly connected to the traction cable 4 under the action of the springs 23 acting on the clamping members 2%), 21, the carriage 2 passes alongside a rail 56 which is stationary, but supported on springs 57 and so arranged (in each station) that it tends to act upon the roller 45 and thereby to push the rod 43 towards the cable 4. At the same time, the rollers 28 brace themselves against a fixed rail 55 in order to prevent that the whole carriage 2 is pivoted about the rail 3 by the pressure exerted by the springs 57 and the rail 56 onto the roller 45, and by means of the springs 48 and members 39, 42, 38 upon the carriage body 5. If the clamping connection of each pair of clamping jaws 18, 20 with the traction cable 4 is good, the pressure exerted by the springs 57 by means of rail 56 upon the roller 45 will not sufiice to produce a longitudinal movement of the rod 43 and thereby to move the two clamping devices 14 away from each other. On the other hand, it the clamping connection with the traction cable 4 is bad such movement will take place until the bearing sleeves 15a and 16a abut against the collars 15c and 160, respectively. The corresponding movement of either the rail 56 or of the rod 43 or of the plungers 51 or of the bodies 17 is used to act upon a non-illustrated switch which then causes deenergization of the electric drive motor which normally produces the continual movement of the traction cable 4.

From the above description it will be apparent that the force used to check the quality of the clamping connection of the clamping devices 14 with the traction cable 4 tends to move such clamping devices away from each other. Such force acts through the clamping devices 14 upon the cable 4 and results in the two clamping devices 14 exerting upon the cable 4 traction efforts or forces which are directed along the longitudinal axis of this cable and opposite to each other. This means that when checking of the clamping connection is carried out there is not exerted upon this cable 4 a single undirectional longitudinal force which would derange the smooth continual movement of this cable and of the carriages 2 which are clamped thereto.

The invention has been described by way of example for bicable ropewayscars. It should, however, be clear that the invention may equally well be used for checking the quality of the clamping connection of the carriages with the single cable of monocable ropeways.

Furthermore, many rearrangements and modifications of details obvious to those skilled in the art might be made without departing from the scope of the following claims. Accordingly,

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a ropeway-car, a carriage including a carriage body, a pair of clamping devices located at either side of said carriage body and guided for sliding movement by said guide means for movement towards and away from each other, said clamping devices being capable of actuation so as to be placed in and out of clamping engagement with a ropeway cable extending in substantial parallelism with said guide means, rod means extending through said carriage body and guided thereby for axial movement in a substantially horizontal direction approximately perpendicular to the direction of movement of said clamping devices, means for providing a driving connection between said rod means and said clamping devices whereby longitudinal movement of said rod means will cause movement of said clamping devices towards or away from each other, said rod means including an end portion projecting past said carriage body, and

spring means tending to hold said rod means in a normal position in which said end portion protrudes at a maximum, said end portion being intended to receive a predetermined exterior check force tending to push it toward said carriage body, such check force being transmitted by means of said rod means and by said means providing said driving connection to said clamping devices to check whether or not it is possible to move said clamping devices with respect to one another while they are in clamping engagement with the ropeway cable.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1, further including a roller carried by said end portion of said rod means, and means for exerting a check force at said rod means through the agency of said roller.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2, wherein said check force-exerting means comprises rail means engageable with said roller.

4. The combination as defined in claim 2, wherein said means providing said driving connection comprises a cam-plate secured to said rod means and a respective plunger secured to each one of said clamping devices.

5. The combination as defined in claim 4, further including a fixed rail, and roller means for bearing against said fixed rail in order to prevent undue transversal movement of the ropeway-car under the action of the check force.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1963 Carlevaro 104204 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A ROPEWAY-CAR, A CARRIGE INCLUDING A CARRIAGE BODY, A PAIR OF CLAMPING DEVICES LOCATED AT EITHER SIDE OF SAID CARRIAGE BODY AND GUIDED FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT BY SAID GUIDE MEANS FOR MOVEMENT TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, SAID CLAMPING DEVICES BEING CAPABLE OF ACUTATION SO AS TO BE PLACED IN AND OUT OF CLAMPING ENGAGEMNT WITH A ROPEWAY CABLE EXTENDING IN SUBSTANTIAL PARALLELISM WITH SAID GUIDE MEANS, ROD MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID CARRIAGE BODY AND GUIDED THEREBY FOR AXIAL MOVEMENT IN A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL DIRECTION APPROXIMATELY PERPENDICUALR TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID CLAMPING DEVICES, MEANS FOR PROVIDING A DRIVING CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID ROD MEANS AND SAID CLAMPING DEVICES WHEREBY LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT OF SAID ROD MEANS WILL CAUSE MOVEMENT OF SAID CLAMPING DEVICES TOWARDS OR AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, SAID ROD MEANS INCLUDING AN END PORTION PROJECTING PAST SAID CARRIAGE BODY, AND SPRING MEANS TENDING TO HOLD SAID ROD MEANS IN A NORMAL POSITION IN WHICH SAID END PORTION PROTUDES AT A MAXIMUM, SAID END PORTION BEING INTENDED TO RECEIVE A PREDETERMINED EXTERIOR CHECK FORCE TENDING TO PUSH IT TOWARD SAID CARRIAGE BODY, SUCH CHECK FORCE BEING TRANSMITTED BY MEANS OF SAID ROD MEANS AND BY SAID MEANS PROVIDING SAID DRIVING CONNECTION TO SAID CLAMPING DEVICES TO CHECK WHEATHER OR NOT IT IS POSSIBLE TO MOVE SAID CLAMPING DEVICES WITH RESPECT TO ONE ANOTHER WHILE THEY ARE IN CLAMPING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ROPEWAY CABLE. 